Why are life-long residents of a once close-knit, thriving Arkansas community now afraid to drop by the local convenience store after sunset? FSM Contributing Editor Renee Taylor explains how illegal immigration is destroying this town and many others just like it.Watching America Slip AwayBy Renee Taylor

Two tomato processing firms based in Monticello, Arkansas -- Candy Brand, LLC and Tomato Shippers, LLC &ndash; as well as four local Bradley County, Arkansas, residents -- Charles Searcy, Randy Clanton, Dale McGinnis and Brooks Lisenby -- are the subjects of a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Firm, Montgomery, Alabama, on behalf of three Mexican migrant workers: Rosalino Perez-Benites, Luis Alberto Ascienco-Vasquesz and Pascual Noriego-Narvaez. The lawsuit recently was filed in the U.S. District Court, Western Division, El Dorado, Arkansas.

The lawsuit contends that the plaintiffs were hired out of Mexico on an H-2A visa to work in the tomato fields.The plaintiffs allege the defendants did not pay them the prevailing wage for migrant workers -- $8.01 in 2007 and $7.58 in 2006.Their suit covers a time period of 2002 -- 2007.They further allege their employers did not reimburse them for travel, visa and other hiring fees.

The Little Rock attorney for the defendants, Michael S. Moore, stated there was no basis for the claim, and has filed a motion for a more definite statement from the plaintiffs. He has also requested a jury trial.

Known for its pink tomatoes, Bradley County, with Warren as its county seat,is a quiet rural community in Southeast Arkansas, first settled in the 1800s.The familynames from those days still grace the thin Warren phone book and until a few years ago,it wasa tightly knit community where residents felt "at home" and safe. Adults knew which children belonged to whom and we all shopped at the local hardware and auto parts stores that ran "accounts" for residents based upon familiarity and trust. Now we more often see stores like Lowe's and Home Depot, whose workers have no earthly idea who we are&hellip;or care. Such are the fruits of "progress".

But there is also an unease settling into our once-proud community, creating anxiety for all of us about our future and our children's fate. Many residents are concerned about the myriad effects of migrant workers, many suspected to be illegal, brought in by the tomato growers to work their lands. Downtown Warren, once the home of a thriving furniture and appliance store and an upscale jewelry store, among many other robust small businesses, now houses empty buildings, a "check into cash" business that advertises the ease of sending Western Union to Mexico, and a storefront with signs in Spanish advertising cheap clothing and music.Around the corner, another such storefront catering to the Mexican community has emerged.Young migrants loiter at the local Mad Butcher grocery store. Several local residents have voiced concerns of the suspected gang-type clans that roam the parking lot. No longer do they feel safe picking up a gallon of milk after 5 pm.

The local health department provides "free" (free to the recipients but not to the American taxpayers) medical care to the families of the migrant workers, who pick up the voter registration cards on the waiting room tables as they leave. It's important to note here that it is against the law to vote if one is not a citizen. At the local revenue office, the workers bring interpreters and their recent electric bills to obtain a driver's license or other identification. Even though it is well known that many crimes and worrisome events, including the purchase of handguns, can be completed by illegals who obtain such licenses -- the 9/11 terrorists had tens of driver's licenses among them -- this practice continues unabated.

The weekly county newspaper's "Arrest Report" is filled with migrant workers arrested for drunk driving, driving without a license or insurance, disorderly conduct and other crimes.This is not a surprise, as violent crime and drug distribution and possession is prevalent among illegal aliens, so over 25% of today's federal prison population is comprised of illegals.In some areas of the country, 12% of felonies, 25% of burglaries and 34% of thefts are committed by illegal aliens.

Locals have known for many years of the buses sent to the Mexican border to pick up people to work the fields and tomato sheds -- many never leaving.They have watched as once quiet, well-maintained neighborhoods have transformed into something more closely resembling "Little Juarez".They grow increasingly frustrated at a system that refuses to enforce immigration laws.

Bradley County is only one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of examples where American tradition and sovereignty are being destroyed utterly by a system that encourages illegal immigration; the hiring of "migrant farm workers" who refuse to learn or speak English, and who have no respect for our laws and customs; and the tolerance for elitist politicians who do not take these issues seriously, are ignorant of them, or care only about their next elections -- certainly not about their constituents.

Wages on farms and in poultry plants have been forced down dramatically due to the influx of migrant workers, causing residents to leave in search of employment elsewhere to support their families. A once-proud American community that sent its sons and daughters to fight to preserve the unmatched quality and richness of American life, in wars ranging from World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Bradley County is now itself dying a slow and agonizing death. It raises the question: what did we fight for? What did we protect?

I suspect that Bradley County, Arkansas, is only one small example of many, many more American towns and counties that have been overtaken by the current wave of illegal aliens who do not at all resemble America's legal immigrants who built our great nation. What kind of future do our politicians envision when they vote to protect such law-breaking foreignnationals and their version of American life, and not to protect law-abiding, true Americans -- legal immigrants and native-born alike - people like you and me?

Are we too late to save ourselves? We shall see when the next election rolls around. Our votes count more now, than ever.

We send our oldest daughter to private Catholic school here in Northern Ohio. She is in Kindergarten right now. A mandatory class is Spanish. This incenses me in multiple ways.

Lets not enforce our laws against the illegals who swarm in after a storm to do the shoddy repair work, no lets just teach our children from the beginning that they must conform to others who shouldn't be here anyway.

I could rant about this for hours, but I feel I am preaching to the quire.